Word Origin & History

beach 1530s, probably from O.E. bæce, bece "stream," from P.Gmc. *bakiz. Extended to loose, pebbly shores (1590s), and in dialect around Sussex and Kent beach still has the meaning "pebbles worn by the waves." Fr. grève shows the same evolution. The verb "to haul or run up on a beach" is first attested 1840. Beach bum first recorded 1962.

Example Sentences for beach

There was a splashing and calling all night, and fires shining on the beach.

There they found a rowboat, drawn up on the beach a little beyond them.

Some went down towards the beach and shot with arrows at the Frenchmen.

There is not a foot of the rocky shore smooth enough to beach him on.

You haven't been to a dance yet; you never go to the beach, you never motor or sail or golf.

It took some time before the whole of the party were collected on the beach.

Light was not gleaming over the tops of the forest next morning before I was on the beach ready to embark for Gallinas.

At each encampment the attendants would draw the canoe, with Father Marquette in it, gently upon the beach.

Here are old Dutch sail boats drawn up on the beach, and the picture is enhanced by the groups of sailors waiting for the tide.

Moccasined footprints had been seen on the sands of the beach, indicating that there were Indians near.